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Free radical creation is part of our bodies' natural metabolic process and, for this reason, we have built-in mechanisms to neutralize or 'scavenge' free-radicals. Our bodies produce enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase, SOD and catalase that bind to free-radicals and inactivate them. However, modern life has enormously increased the number of toxic free-radicals introduced into our bodies every day from the surrounding environment. It is these outside free-radicals that are particularly harmful and our bodies are now struggling to cope with their relentless onslaught. The most significant sources of excess free-radicals are dietary or environmental. Dietary sources are usually fats, either rancid or hydrogenated fats, and fats that have been heated to high temperatures during cooking. Environmental pollutants include automobile exhaust, cigarette smoke and numerous other chemicals, physical exercise, stress, and radiation (both natural and man-made).
Many foods and herbs we regularly consume contain nutrients that will scavenge excess free-radicals in our bodies. As a group, these substances are known as antioxidants, and include the familiar vitamins C and E, beta carotene and selenium. These nutrients both scavenge different kinds of free-radicals in various parts of the body and provide raw materials necessary for the body to produce antioxidant enzymes. For example, vitamin C scavenges free-radicals before they enter cell membranes and is the first line of antioxidant defense. Vitamin E works within the cell membrane to protect against lipid or fat oxidation. Beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A in the body, also works within the cell membrane and tissue linings where it helps to protect it from singlet (free-radical) oxygen. Selenium is specifically needed to produce antioxidant enzymes within the body. This trace mineral also helps to prevent the oxidation of LDL (low density lipoprotein cholesterol). This is of special importance because when LDL oxidizes, it binds with calcium to form plaque that deposits on artery walls. It is also crucial to recognize that antiox nutrients actually work together as a team. When it neutralizes a free-radical, it is often damaged in the process. The nutrients protect each other while increasing one another's activity. Both vitamin C and E work together and many studies have confirmed that the combination of selenium and vitamin E greatly increases their individual effectiveness.
This information has led many people to add antioxidant supplements to their diets. However, when adding supplements to our diets, it is wise to remember that isolated nutrients do not appear in nature. One does not find ascorbic acid (vitamin C) alone, anywhere. Every nutrient travels with a symphony of co-nutrients and phytonutrients that enhance both its effectiveness and safety. It is a team effort. Researchers, nutritionists and doctors agree that the nutrients in whole foods, whether on the table or in a tablet, provide the greatest benefit. For instance, vitamin E is actually a family of nutrients known as tocopherols.
Although antiox nutrients are certainly valuable, even more exciting are the botanicals that millions of people have used for thousands of years to protect and detoxify their systems. These plants develop antioxidant activity for the same reasons we do; to help protect them from harmful outside influences and they do it so efficiently that the free-radical protection they offer is often significantly higher than that provided by individual nutrients. The reason for this is simple: an herb or botanical, such as tomato, contains a multitude of active compounds, so while a tomato does, in fact, contain the antioxidant vitamin C, it also contains numerous other beneficial antioxidant phytonutrients that may or may not be related to vitamin C. Medical databases exist that tabulate and document the amount of antiox activity an herb or botanical offers. Those herbs and botanicals having the highest number of compounds that act as free-radical scavengers in our bodies are rated as having the highest antioxidant activity.
The beauty of botanical sources is that nature is inherently multi-task. In the fundamental design of life, everything our bodies need to sustain health is provided in the natural world that surrounds us. To provide nourishment efficiently and effectively, nature loads these plants with as many different beneficial nutrients and phytonutrients as possible. When discussing these botanicals, it is helpful to organize them based on their principal function i.e., digestive, immune support, cardiovascular protection, adaptogenic and nutritive; however; it is essential to recognize that nature does not generally tie things up in nice, neat little packages. Most of these botanicals' benefits overlap from category to category and they could just as easily be in one category as another; yet one more example of nature's multi-tasking. That being said, all of the following foods and herbs offer extraordinary antiox activity while also offering many other health-enhancing benefits; it is truly an example of elegant proficiency:
Learn more on Antioxidants and True Essentials
Learn what Antioxidant Superfoods and/or Natural
Supplements you need to consume to get the
maximum health benefits. How antioxidants can
protect our bodies from the harmful effects of
stress, pollution, aging, and diseases such as
cancer and heart disease. Dark Chocolate is
Healthy Chocolate!
Learn more at Antioxidants 4 Life
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